Ardbeg Distillery
Ardbeg distillery, (Gaelic: Small Headland) is situated on the southern coast of Islay along with Lagavulin and Laphroaig, and has been producing peaty whisky since 1798, licensed in 1815. With two pot stills, it produces award-winning whisky such as Ardbeg Galileo, which won the World’s Best Single Malt Whisky in the 2013 World Whiskies Awards. Over the years its production has been patchy when it closed a couple of times in 1981 and briefly in 1996. It has been back in full swing since 1998 producing 40,000 bottles of heavily peated malt whisky per week.
The distillery is currently owned by Glenmorangie (which itself is owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) and managed by local, Michael “Mickey” Heads.
There is a committee that you can join, “The Ardbeg Committee”, whose stated purpose is “to celebrate the re-awakening of Ardbeg and dispense drams to those deprived of knowledge about The Ultimate Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky.”
Visit Ardbeg
If you’re lucky enough to visit the distillery they conduct a range of tasting tours involving a dram or two of course. You could really get an experience by staying at the distillery’s own beautiful holiday accommodation situated within the grounds, ‘Seaview Cottage’.
Have look at some of the Ardbeg whiskies available at our shop.
Ardbeg’s motto, “Follow your nose along the most famous road in the history of malt whisky and eventually you’ll arrive at Ardbeg“.
Islay Whisky